School suspensions were handed out to seven students at Brampton’s St. Marguerite d’Youville Secondary School for tweets about their teachers the board considers inappropriate and offensive.
Nine students in total were subject to varying ranges of disciplinary action by the school. According to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, the students posted comments on Twitter that “maligned” teachers at the school. Two female teachers and one male teacher were mentioned in the online comments.
Peel Regional Police even investigated the postings and spoke with two of the students. No charges were laid, but Peel police spokesperson Fiona Thivierge said two students were cautioned, in the presence of their parents, about the dangers of the posts they made and how they could have led to even more serious consequences.
Two students posted comments pretending to be teachers, one was a threat, some were sexual and all were inappropriate, according to police and school board officials.
The tweeting amongst a group of Grade 12 students did not occur at school and came to the attention of board administrators this past weekend.
Bruce Campbell, a board spokesperson, said the two “most egregious” offenders have received seven-day suspensions and must write apology letters to the teachers named in the posts. Those students have also been removed from classes with those teachers and placed in other classrooms, he added.
Three of the students received two-day suspensions and had to write letters of apology. They are expected back in school Friday.
Two of the teenagers were told to stay home Wednesday and were back in classes Thursday. They were also required to write apology letters.
Two more students were spoken to by the principal and received formal warnings about their behaviour.
Campbell said the principal addressed the entire school, over the public address system, about “appropriate use of social media and treating everyone with respect, regardless of the medium.”
“Nobody has the right to slander anybody or bully anybody,” Campbell said.
Ironically, this is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week in Ontario schools.
The students were suspended under the board’s Code of Conduct policy which speaks about “conduct injurious to the moral tone of the school.”
There were reports some students were planning to protest the disciplinary action taken against their schoolmates by wearing black on “dress down day” at the school. But according to the school, there have been no protests.
All the posts have been removed, according to police.
- with files from Pam Douglas